


For a Memory

by Cup_aTea



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-20
Packaged: 2017-11-19 02:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cup_aTea/pseuds/Cup_aTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint exchanges a memory for something priceless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For a Memory

 

 

 

Clint turned a corner and his boots came to rest in front of the Aesir’s holding cells.  Solid stone walls made up three sides of the little prison, and a flickering energy barrier blocked the front.  Clint inspected the holding coolly before his gaze moved to its captive.  Loki sat against the back wall, old-fashioned chains wrapped around his arms, torso, and ankles.  He met Clint’s eyes with a smirk.

 

“Came to visit me?  Did you miss me, _Agent Barton_?”  The last two words were drawn out mockingly.  Clint ignored him in favor of examining the part of the wall that barrier emanated from.

 

“Do you doubt that this cage will hold me?”  Loki taunted.

 

“I don’t think anywhere is good enough to hold you.  Not while you’re still alive,” Clint replied, words tight.

 

“And yet the All-Father will neither kill me nor give you the task.  So you have come to visit me instead.  Do you feel anger for what I did to you?  Or is it something else that brings you here -- that I claimed the life of the man you loved?”

 

“I would send you to Hel right now if it weren’t for Coulson.  I know how angry he would be if I started an intergalactic incident now because of you.”  Clint stepped closer to the energy barrier dividing them.  “That is the only thing keep you alive.”

 

“I wish you would try it,” Loki hissed, rising up as far his chains would let him, a desperate anger coursing through his words.  He stopped, hunched there in the cell, and his gaze turned thoughtful.

 

“I am the only one who could return him to you, you know,” he said lowly.

 

“Bullshit.  He’s dead and he’s not coming back.”

 

“Is that what Thor told you?”  Loki tilted his head mockingly.  “You _do_ know that Hel, the one who stands watch at the gates of the underworld, is my daughter?  She is cold and unfriendly, but she still holds allegiance to me.  I am the only one in this or any realm who could help you.”

 

“Bullshit,” Clint said through clenched teeth, but hope wavered in his chest.  Loki, who had known every facet of him, saw it instantly.

 

“It’s true,” he said with a condescending, almost concerned raise of his eyebrows.  “I am the only one who holds any sway over her, the only one who can return him to you.”

 

“I know you would never do anything for free,” Clint said fiercely.  “And I’m not letting you out of that cell.”

 

“Quite right, Agent Barton,” Loki drawled.  “But that is not my price.  I ask only a small thing in comparison.  A trifle.”

 

“…What?”  The word came out in a whisper unbidden.

 

“A memory.”

 

“What?”

 

“A memory, given freely of your own will.  That is all I ask.”

 

“Why would I give you that?”

 

Loki leaned back against the stone and seemed to consider his answer.  “As you know, I can’t escape this cell, and Niflheim is a long way from here.  It is a realm that can barely be reached by living beings in the first place.  It is much easier to contact my daughter through the spirit, and for that…I need something vital.  Some living connection that can reach across the realms.  Since your memory connects you to the soul residing there….”  The demi-god trailed off.

 

Clint stared at the man leaning against the opposite wall, saying nothing, and Loki stared right back.  He smirked and let one foot tap idly against the wall.  Silence wasn’t unfamiliar to either of them and each man sustained it easily.  It was Barton who broke it finally.

 

“What do you get out of this?” he asked the man inside the cell.

 

“A form of freedom.  The All-Father -- “ Loki’s lips curled as he said the words, “ -- cannot take away my abilities, but he can dampen them in this cell.  It has been too long since my spirit stretched beyond these walls.  A conversation with my daughter would be a welcome escape.”

 

“And how do I know that you wouldn’t use the chance to communicate with someone else?”

 

Loki sneered.  “Fear not, Agent, your mortal memories could only allow me passage between the Underworld or Midgard, and I promise you there is no one there I wish to speak to.”  He paused, eyes unfocused as he looked past Clint.  “My daughter, on the other hand...”

 

“What would I have to give you?” Clint asked quietly.  He knew it is was idiotic to even be speaking with the prisoner, but the thought of Phil, standing in their apartment, returned to the living, was too much to ignore.

 

“It need only be a small memory.  But something about him, if it’s truly his spirit that you’re wanting back.  Maybe an afternoon you shared together, or the moment you first saw him.”

 

 _Long legs, in a ridiculously clean and tailored suit, standing in front of him in the rain, as the stranger peered down at him from the other end of a silencer.  The first time Coulson had saved him, offering him a chance to transform his life._ The image was still as clear before his eyes as the day it happened.

 

“What do I—?” Clint began.

 

“Just look at me and think of him.  Hold it in your mind’s eye so I can see.”

 

_Clear blue eyes looked down at him, while water rolled down from perfectly parted hair._

 

Clint held his thoughts carefully.  He looked at Loki’s face, at the lies and truths that wrapped around each other there.  He looked at the cold green eyes, unkind and filled with ever-present anger.  He considered the picture in his head: Phil in one of his perfect suits, alive and well.  He thought about what Phil would have to say if he knew about this, what SHIELD would say. 

 

The thought made him pause, but when he looked up, Loki was still watching him.  Clint mentally apologized to his lover and took a deep breath.

 

And then he let go. 

 

And Loki reached in and took.

 

\---

 

When Clint Barton returned to the common room of their Asgard quarters, his team was already gathered there.  There were anxious faces and pinched looks, as well as a cautious sort of excitement.

 

“Hey guys, what’d I miss?” Clint joked, trying to break the tension.  Glances were exchanged all round.

 

“Clint…”  Natasha trailed off, looking more uncertain than Clint had seen her in a long time.

 

“What?  What is it?”

 

At the back of the group, somebody cleared their throat.  Then they broke ranks and Clint realised a newcomer was standing at the back.   A man, with neatly combed hair and carefully tailored suit.

 

“Hi Clint,” the man said softly, a smile fluttering at the corners of his mouth.

 

Clint tilted his head appraisingly.

 

“Sorry—who are you?”

 

 

 

\---

 

 

_“I took the day that they met, Brother.  Without that day, the memories unravel and it all falls apart.”_

 


End file.
